According to figures from the Serbian Public Prosecutor’s Office, the number of cases involving crimes committed against journalists went up by 106 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, while the number of physical attacks on journalists rose from six to 28, said Dragana Bjelica of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS).
Speaking at the conference titled “Democratic Shield: Media Freedom and Journalist Safety During Elections,” Bjelica said that following the collapse of the train station canopy in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, which killed 16 people, there had been a “collapse within newsrooms, too.” She said that those who fought for professional reporting found themselves under enormous pressure, facing punishment or dismissal.
Bjelica added that the UNS is advocating for the creation of a subgroup within the Permanent Working Group for the Safety of Journalists to draft proposed amendments to the Criminal Code aimed at improving legal protections for journalists, the Association said in a press release.
The Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Marcel Pesko, told UNS that journalists who feel intimidated, abused, or harassed cannot do their jobs professionally. He emphasized that ensuring the safety and security of journalists is a shared responsibility involving state institutions, law enforcement, civil society, and international organizations, as it is in everyone’s interest for journalists to remain free, independent, and able to safely carry out their role in a democratic society.
Maja Sever, President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), said that freedom and democracy are not just “bureaucratic terms concerning the rule of law, pluralism, and democratic standards.”
She noted that the EFJ, along with much of Europe, can learn from Serbian journalists today. According to Sever, they offer a lesson in how to maintain professional standards even in the face of daily attempts to discredit, attack, or physically assault them, and despite hate speech campaigns organized at the highest levels of government.
Source: N1
